Beverly Hills water customers have a city commitment on paper as of June 23: reliable supply through normal years, dry years, and prolonged drought.
The City Council adopted the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan at its regular 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, June 23, beating a state deadline of July 1 to submit the document to the California Department of Water Resources. The vote tally was not immediately available. The plan maps out supply and demand over a 20-year horizon and includes a companion Water Shortage Contingency Plan spelling out enforcement actions across six drought stages, from 10% to 50% supply cuts.
Missing the July 1 deadline would have cost the city eligibility for state grants, loans, and drought assistance, according to DWR guidelines.
What's in the plan
The 2025 UWMP expands on its 2020 predecessor in several ways, according to a staff memo from Robert Welch, the city's utilities general manager, and Vince Damasse, P.E., water resources and operations manager:
- A drought risk assessment analyzing five consecutive dry years, up from the previous three-year requirement, projected in five-year increments over two decades.
- A water shortage contingency plan that builds on the city's Emergency Water Conservation Plan (Ordinance 20-O-2819) and incorporates new state requirements under Senate Bill 606.
- A seismic vulnerability assessment of the water system, tied to the city's Local Hazard Mitigation Plan.
- Reduced reliance on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, consistent with state Delta Plan Policy WR P1.
Consultant Psomas prepared the plan in coordination with city staff and the Metropolitan Water District.
Path to adoption
The Beverly Hills Public Works Commission reviewed the draft plan at its May 14 meeting and recommended council adoption. Welch's memo outlined the timeline: hold a public hearing June 23, adopt the plan, then finalize and transmit it to DWR before July 1.
What's next
The adoption fits into a broader water strategy. The council's fiscal year 2026-27 priorities, outlined in an April 7 Public Works Commission liaison committee memo, include increasing water resilience through additional water wells and completing the Cabrillo pump station and forebay project to boost emergency pumping capacity.
Beverly Hills' Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, adopted April 22, 2025, flags drought, decreased snowpack, and accelerated snowpack melt as threats to regional water supplies. The UWMP's expanded dry-year modeling responds directly to those risks.
The adopted plan is available at beverlyhills.org/1022.
